The 1.alpha.-hydroxylated metabolites of vitamin D--most importantly 1.alpha.,25-dihydroxyvitamin D.sub.3 and 1.alpha.,25-dihydroxyvitamin D.sub.2 --are known as highly potent regulators of calcium homeostasis in animals and humans, and more recently their activity in cellular differentiation has also been established. V. Ostrem et al, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, (1987), 84, 2610. As a consequence, many structural analogs of these metabolites, such as compounds with different side chain structures, different hydroxylation patterns, or different stereochemistry, have been prepared and tested. Important examples of such analogs are 1.alpha.-hydroxyvitamin D.sub.3, 1.alpha.-hydroxyvitamin D.sub.2, various side chain fluorinated derivatives of 1.alpha.,25-dihydroxyvitamin D.sub.3, and side chain homologated analogs. Several of these known compounds exhibit highly potent activity in vivo or in vitro, and some of these have been found to exhibit an interesting separation of activities in cell differentiation and calcium regulation. This difference in activity provides these compounds with advantageous therapeutic activity profiles and thus numerous of these compounds are in use, or have been proposed for use, in the treatment of a variety of diseases such as renal osteodystrophy, vitamin D-resistant rickets, osteoporosis, psoriasis, and certain malignancies.
In a continuing effort to explore pharmacologically important vitamin D analogs, several new 22-iodinated vitamin D.sub.3 compounds have now been synthesized. The 22-iodinated compounds show relatively high binding affinity for the vitamin D receptor thus demonstrating their potential for high in vivo biological activity. Further, these compounds induced relatively high differentiation of malignant cells. Also, these 22-iodo compounds showed high in vivo calcium transport activity with little or no bone calcium mobilization activity. Accordingly, the 22-iodo compounds show promise in the treatment of osteoporosis, particularly senile osteoporosis and postmenopausal osteoporosis. The iodo compounds can also be labeled with radio iodine to be used for 1.alpha.,25-(OH).sub.2 -D.sub.3 assays.